As hopelessness sets in here in Anguilla, a number of people have uprooted and left the island seeking opportunities elsewhere. There are many others, especially young people, who are planning their emigration in search of a better way of life. This unusually high exodus of persons in recent times speaks to a failed economy and a general lack of confidence in the leadership of Anguilla. It is clear that our elected representatives of the recent past and at present have fallen short. There has been a failure to implement practical, workable and realistic measures to stimulate Anguilla’s economy and rebuild our broken and long ignored society.
In order to put Anguilla on a path to prosperity and growth it requires leaders who are christian-minded, mature, honest, experienced, patriotic and selfless. The DOVE Party team is up to the challenge. Selfishness, greed and general inability among our current bread of politicians have lead to Anguilla’s downfall and as a consequence, apathy among our citizenry. Anguilla needs a rebirth in the economy and in the society. Anguilla’s rebirth however, must be executed creatively and in a sustainable way.
The challenge before us therefore is how to build a sustainable economy and a sustainable society? This must be done in a manner to ensure a significant improvement in the quality of life for Anguillians and all other people who choose to make Anguilla their home. To this end, the DOVE Party’s focus is to modernise the economy in a manner that focuses on creating meaningful employment and social stability. There are a number of models we could look at as we pursue this goal, places like Turks and Caicos, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Singapore come to mind. Extracting the best of what these places have to offer is where we need to go. We hasten to say that we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater, there are some things that we have right here in Anguilla that we MUST preserve i.e. the high degree of entrepreneurship, land ownership, creativity in music, boatbuilding and natural talent in sports etc.
The DOVE Party sees the following initiatives as critical:
? There is an urgent need to move to the use of renewable energy i.e. solar, wind, waste to energy (if proven safe and viable) and limit the use of fossil fuel. The result of this will be an overall reduction in the cost of living for everyone in Anguilla.
? The construction of a modern and energy efficient administrative office for public servants. This will result in significant savings in the following areas for government (rent, transportation, electricity and telephone) and taxpayers.
? Open up the island for timeshare with a focus on locally owned resorts and small properties first. This will attract more tourist to the island throughout the entire year and not just during the brief tourist season as we know it.
? Comprehensively clean up and beautify the island and roll out a sound marketing plan with a local and international component that speaks to the new and improved Anguilla. To complement this there needs to be a concerted effort to improve the standard of customer service. For this to happen government must make all persons in Anguilla feel a part of tourism; it should be a way of life.
? Include and encourage the youth of Anguilla to participate more fully in Anguilla’s development through entrepreneurship training and soft but secure financing of startup businesses.
? Encourage the expansion of the St. James Medical School up to 1000 students.
? Attract a nursing school to Anguilla with a plan to attract as many as 1000 students.
? Attract a marine biology school to Anguilla with a plan to attract as many as 500 students.
? Expand the airport to accommodate jet service out of Europe, North America and South America. Like many other islands in the region, Anguilla can handle one or two flights a week out of Europe, North America and South America.
? Build two modern marinas with at least one having a board walk and duty free shopping.
? Attract up to 2000 active retired couples to live in Anguilla. Focus on people with spending power of approximately USD $60,000 per couple per year.
What we are proposing for Anguilla is feasible. The DOVE Party has identified a source of funding for the capital projects mentioned above. This of course is with a reputable lender with a proven track record of lending money in this region to responsible borrowers. However, as prudent and responsible leaders, compelling business cases will be written for all of these projects and will only go forward if and when they meet a certain criteria. To this end two experts have already been identified to prepare the business cases that will be required.
In addition, the DOVE Party sees the need to make government more efficient and effective by lowering the cost of running the island. This will be achieved by strategic infrastructural development and strategic human resource development. e.g building a single modern energy efficient administrative building to accommodate public servants and ensure that human resource development training programs focused on delivering efficiency and effectiveness is incorporated in the entire public service.
While this article is brief it is clear that the DOVE Party is leading the way by putting our plans for Anguilla in the public domain and sharing with you the public ‘how’ we will achieve them. There was no mention of education and health in this article but in a subsequent article both will be addressed. We of the DOVE Party understand the challenges ahead for Anguilla and are prepared to take up the mantle of leadership with the support of the people of Anguilla and the cooperation of the British government. Transforming Anguilla will not be easy. It is not a process that will happen without hard-work, creativity and sacrifice on the part of the next government. However, this ship must be righted. There are no excuses to be made. The DOVE Party is up to the task and with the DOVE Party team at the helm Anguilla will rise again.
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
